ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Le Chat, Copilot, Perplexity, Grok… The list grows every month, and all these AIs look alike on the surface. So which one should you choose? Good news: you don’t need to test them all. You just need to answer five simple questions.

Want the side-by-side table (price, data, French)? Our AI comparison sums it up in one page.

The 5 criteria that really matter

Forget the performance rankings that change every month. For real-world use, five criteria are enough to decide:

1. The use — writing? creating images? finding info? coding? Each AI has its strengths.
2. The price — they all have a free tier; paid plans hover around €15–23/month.
3. Data sovereignty — where does your data live? In Europe (GDPR) or in the United States?
4. Language — the best ones are excellent in French; some are a notch below.
5. Integration — AI is sometimes already included in tools you pay for (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365).

Which AI for which use?

That’s criterion number one. Here is the reflex depending on what you want to do:

• A bit of everything (versatility) → ChatGPT. The mainstream reference: text, images, voice, file analysis.
• Long-form writing, reasoning, coding → Claude. The most comfortable with polished text and code.
• Staying sovereign (data in Europe) → Le Chat (Mistral). The French, GDPR-friendly alternative.
• Finding info with sources → Perplexity. It answers by citing its sources, which you can verify.
• You already live in Google (Gmail, Docs) → Gemini, built into Workspace.
• You already live in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook) → Copilot, built into Office.

No need to pick a single one forever: many people use two assistants — for example Le Chat day to day, and Perplexity for research.

Sovereignty and GDPR: where does your data live?

This is the point people forget most. When you write to an AI, your text goes to the vendor’s servers. And apart from Mistral (French), the big players are American and host your data outside Europe.

Two concrete consequences:

• For your personal or customer data: never paste sensitive information (names, contact details, health data, trade secrets) into a public AI. It’s a basic GDPR rule — see our guide GDPR for your website.
• For sovereignty: if data control matters (regulated profession, public sector, non-profit), a European AI like Le Chat keeps your data in Europe.

Beware of very cheap “open” models from China (DeepSeek, Qwen): used through their online service, they send your data to China. Downloaded and self-hosted, that’s another story.

Free or paid: when to reach for your wallet?

Always start with the free tier. To get started and for most occasional uses, it’s more than enough.

Move to paid (~€15–23/month) only if:

• you hit the usage limits (messages blocked mid-day);
• you want the most powerful models (reasoning, large documents);
• you need advanced features (advanced image generation, long-file analysis, voice mode).

Smart move: try one month of paid before committing to a year.

Our advice in one line

• Easiest to start: ChatGPT or Le Chat, free version.
• Most respectful of your data: Le Chat (Mistral), French and GDPR-friendly.
• Smartest: a generalist assistant + Perplexity for research.

And above all: AI suggests, you decide. Always check what it produces before using it.

Choosing an AI is not about finding “the best” in the absolute: it’s about finding the one that fits your use and your privacy requirements. With these five criteria, you now know where to look — and our AI comparison gives you the detail, line by line.